Cheonil Sikdang () is a historic restaurant in

Haenam County Haenam (''Haenam-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. The capital of Haenam-gun is Haenam-eup (Haenam town). The economy of the county is based mainly on agriculture, with rice and radish being the two most common crops. Hist ...

South Jeolla Province South Jeolla Province (), formerly South Chŏlla Province, also known as Jeonnam (), is a province in the Honam, Honam region, South Korea, and the Provinces of Korea, southernmost province in mainland Korea. South Jeolla borders the provinces of ...

, South Korea. It the seventh-oldest operating restaurant in South Korea, having been established in 1924. It specializes in

Korean table d'hôte ''Hanjeongsik'' (), sometimes translated as Korean table d'hôte, * is a Korean-style full-course meal characterized by the array of small banchan plates in varied colours. Cheonil Sikdang, the seventh-oldest active restaurant in South Korea, sp ...

(''hanjeongsik''): a large spread of numerous small Korean side dishes. The restaurant has reportedly been consistently famous in South Jeolla Province and across South Korea, and has remained family-owned. It was reportedly frequented by significant politicians in the country, and its food was delivered to the South Korean presidential residence the

Blue House Cheong Wa Dae (), also known as the Blue House in English, is a public park that was the former Office of the President of South Korea, executive office and residence of the president of South Korea. Located in Seoul's Jongno District, directl ...

a number of times. The restaurant now has a branch in Seoul called Haenam Cheonilgwan () was opened in the mid-1990s.

Description

The restaurant is reportedly reputed for its ''

tteok-galbi ''Tteok-galbi'' () or grilled short rib patties is a Korean beef dish made with minced beef short ribs. * Originally a royal dish, ''tteok-galbi'' is now a local specialty of Gyeonggi Province in the central-west region and South Jeolla Provinc ...

'' (short rib patties) and

kimchi Kimchi (; ) is a traditional Korean side dish (''banchan'') consisting of salted and fermented vegetables, most often napa cabbage or Korean radish. A wide selection of seasonings are used, including '' gochugaru'' (Korean chili powder), ...

. It reportedly serves dozens of side dishes at each table. The restaurant claims to have no secret recipes, and only focuses on the quality of its ingredients and execution of its cooking.

History

The restaurant was first established in 1924 as Cheonilgwan () by Park Seong-sun (). She was the breadwinner for her family, as her ''

yangban The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon period. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil officials and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats wh ...

'' husband reportedly had little interest in working. She set up a roadside food stall and began selling a variety of ''

namul ''Namul'' () refers to either a variety of edible greens or leaves or seasoned herbal dishes made of them. Wild greens are called ''san-namul'' (), and spring vegetables are called ''bom-namul'' (). On the day of Daeboreum, the first full moo ...

'' dishes and soups. Her stand reportedly became popular, with even local officials seeking it out. As eating at such a stall was inconvenient, they asked her to create a restaurant building. That became Cheonilgwan. The original location of the restaurant is located within the innermost part of the current complex; it was a thatched-roof ''

hanok A (; name in South Korea) or ''chosŏnjip'' (; name in North Korea and for Koreans in Yanbian, China), is a traditional Korean house. were first designed and built in the 14th century during the Joseon dynasty. Korean architecture conside ...

'' building. As ''hanjeongsik'' was prohibitively expensive for regular people around this time, its customers were mainly aristocrats. In 1950, the original hut was torn down and replaced with a more modern building. After the second generation Lee Jeong-rye () took over the restaurant, she changed its name to Cheonil Sikdang. Around that time, ''tteok-galbi'' became the restaurant's signature dish. Park would eventually die in 1973. Lee died in 1990; in 1988 Oh Hyeon-hwa () took over. Since early in its history, the restaurant has been consistently popular among the elite in South Korea. South Korean leader

Park Chung Hee Park Chung Hee (; ; November14, 1917October26, 1979) was a South Korean politician and army officer who served as the third president of South Korea from 1962 after he seized power in the May 16 coup of 1961 until Assassination of Park Chung ...

ate at the restaurant four times. The food has reportedly been delivered to the South Korean former presidential residence the

on a number of occasions. Reportedly, on one occasion Park Seong-sun refused to go by car to the Blue House because she would easily get carsick, so Park Chung Hee offered her a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

ride to Seoul. South Korean leader , Minister of Justice, dined at the restaurant in 1995. Mayor of Seoul

Goh Kun Goh Kun (, born 2 January 1938) is a South Korean politician who served as the prime minister of South Korea from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2003 to 2004. He was the acting president of South Korea at the time of Roh Moo-hyun's suspension in 20 ...

ate there in 1997. In spite of this, the restaurant's customer base is reportedly diverse, with various socioeconomic classes eating together.

References

{{Historic restaurants in South Korea 1924 establishments in Korea Companies of Korea under Japanese rule Korean restaurants Restaurants in South Korea Haenam County Restaurants established in 1924